Less carbon, less pollution

The spread of pollution following China's industry transfer from the developed eastern region to the less-developed central and western regions has become a new headache that cries for attention, particularly on a day meant to promote a low-carbon lifestyle.

The pollution movement has not been given enough attention, as the focus has been on the economic development of the underdeveloped regions. There have been several major cases in recent years in which enterprises have moved highly polluting plants inland in the name of developing the local economy.

China has been a victim of the international transfer of pollution, as polluting production has accompanied foreign investment in China in the past decades. It is part of the strategy by which international enterprises use the developing world as a "pollution haven" to accommodate their pollution-causing capacities. China must not allow its domestic enterprises to adopt the same approach.